In South Africa’s Cape Winelands, thousands of workers harvest the produce that fills supermarket shelves. Yet behind this abundance lies a harsh reality: farmworkers, many of them women, face low wages, unsafe working conditions, and the constant threat of eviction from the land where their families have lived for generations.
Union Aid Abroad–APHEDA is supporting the Trust for Community Outreach and Education (TCOE) in their work to change this. Together with key partners, the Commercial Stevedoring Agriculture and Allied Workers Union (CSAAWU) and the Rural Women’s Assembly (RWA), they’re helping farmworkers come together to organise and defend their rights.
Organising in a difficult landscape
Farmworkers in South Africa are among the most vulnerable to exploitation. The fruit and wine industries rely heavily on casual, seasonal, and migrant labour, with around 70% of seasonal workers being women. The dispersed and transitory nature of the rural workforce makes it difficult to collectivise as workers are forced to regularly move around due to casual and seasonal contracts. Many live in employer-provided housing that can be taken away without warning. Labour laws exist, but enforcement is weak, and occupational health protections are often ignored.
In this environment, organising isn’t easy. But through persistent grassroots work, TCOE and its partners are helping workers build collective power. Over the past year, they’ve:
- Established 14 farmworker and migrant worker forums across the Cape Winelands.
- Strengthened the Rural Legal Centre, alongside CSAAWU and the Mawubuye Land Rights Movement, providing critical legal and advocacy support.
- Run campaigns tackling gender-based violence, foetal alcohol syndrome, and pesticide exposure.
- Organised outreach visits to farms to educate workers about their rights and to unionise new members.
- Fought eviction cases, helping families resist displacement from their homes.
Standing up for women workers
For women farmworkers, the struggle extends beyond the workplace. High rates of gender-based violence and foetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) continue to affect rural communities. In response, TCOE has created educational materials and facilitated monthly women’s study circles that bring together 18–26 women at a time to learn, share experiences, and organise collective action.
Through partnerships with local authorities, schools, churches, and police, TCOE and RWA are also helping to shift community attitudes, building a stronger, more united front against violence, low wages, and exploitative conditions.
Defending workers’ health and rights
Exposure to toxic pesticides remains one of the most serious threats to farmworkers’ health. Many of the chemicals banned in Europe are still exported to South Africa, where workers often handle them without proper protective equipment. TCOE has made pesticide safety a major focus, raising awareness and pressuring authorities to enforce stronger health standards on farms.
Meanwhile, the Rural Legal Centre continues to provide vital assistance to workers. Last year alone, it supported 487 cases involving unpaid wages, unfair dismissals, evictions, and access to unemployment benefits.
One ongoing case reveals the reality of what happens when farmworkers stand up for their rights. After 25 workers joined CSAAWU, they were suddenly placed on “indefinite leave” without pay. The farm was later declared insolvent, and power and water were cut off to the workers’. This is an attempt to force them out despite the owner’s ties to several other farms.
The Rural Legal Centre, backed by TCOE and CSAAWU, is fighting the case through arbitration. It’s one of many examples showing why building worker organisation and solidarity is essential in defending rural livelihoods.
The work of TCOE and its allies demonstrates what grassroots power looks like: farmworkers standing together, building knowledge, and fighting back against exploitation. To support them, become a member at apheda.com.au/join